Wardrobe trunk



July 21, 1925.

G. H. WHEARY WARDROBE TRUNK Filed Aug. 10. 1923 III]! I N V EN TOR.

7 9 A TTORNEYS Patented July 2.1, 1925.

UNlTED STATES GEORGE HENRY WHEARY, OF RAGINE, WISCONSIN.

WARDROBE TRUNK.

'Application filed. August 10, 1923. Serial No. 656,711.

To all via/10m 6/ may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnoncn HENRY amar, a citizen of the United States, residing at Racine, county of Racine, and State of Wisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in lVardrobe Trunks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in wardrobe trunks.

It is the object of this invention to provide an improved construction for the body section and drawer of a wardrobe trunk, whereby the material may be reinforced at the points where displacement is most likely to occur, and the reinforcing devices utilized drawer stops to not only align the drawers from the front or exposed side but also to give the front face'of said section a finished and attractive appearance. More particularly stated, it is the object of this invention to provide a trunk construction in which side panels of wood, fiber, or the like in the body of the trunk and in the drawers are rigidly and securely fastened together through the medium of metal strips formed to provide not only for the adequate reinforcement of the panels and vertical corners of the drawers, but also to provide for suitable engagement of the reinforcing parts when the drawers are closed, to limit the inward movement of the drawers and hold them with their front aces in a common vertical plane free from any tendency to lateral or torsional displacement, such as might cause it to jam or bind.

its will hereinafter be more specifically pointed out, the wardrobe trunk herein disclosed is so constructed as to make it very desirable for each drawer to move accurately and without binding to a predetermined closed'position so that the several drawers may be locked in place simultaneously. If any drawer is not in its proper position, the simultaneous locking of all drawers will be difficult, if not impossible. Consequently, the mechanism disclosed in this application, whereby each drawer of the trunk is caused to slide accurately to its proper position with little or no attention on the part of the user, is considered to be of unusual importance when used with this particular type of trunk, although the construction herein illustrated will obviously find a field of usefulness wherever similar conditions obtain.

It a further object of this invention to provide for the front face of adrawer a metallic binding strip formed for the purpose aforesaid and adapted to extend continuously and unbroken about three margins of said face.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 shows an open wardrobe trunk, the drawer compartment being shown in front elevation.

Figure 2 is a f 'agmental detail view taken upon the section indicated at 2-2 in Fig-v ure 1.

Figure 0 is a detail View in perspective of a portion of a metallic binding member j with the fragmental associated portions of a trunk drawer indicated in broken lines.

Figure 4: is a fragmental detail of the metallic binding member shown in Figure 3 as such member appears before being bent to fit the corner of the drawer.

Like parts are identified by the same reference. characters throughout the several views.

The compartment 5 of the trunk within which the drawers are housed may be hinged or otherwise connected with the compartment G of the trunk in any ordinary or desired manner. Dowel pins 7 receivable in correspondingly formed socket members 8, provide for the accurate registry of com partments 5 and G of the trunk when such portions are brought together face to face. A top or cover portion 9 is hinged at 10 to, compartment 5 of the trunk and may be folded downwardly over compartment 6 when said last mentioned compartment is in proper registry as aforesaid. The above mentioned construction follows standard practice and need not be further discussed herein. 7

The portion 5 of the trunk within which the several drawers are housed will now be described more particularly. v

A preferred construction embodying this invention is shown in Figure 2 wherein the multiple-ply panels of wood, fiber, or both materials, constituting the side walls of the trunk, are shown at 15. A corner uprightmember 16 is mortised to receive the panels 15 as shown. An external metal reinforcing strip 17 protects the corner upright 16 and serves to connect the side panels rigidly together at the corner. The corner is further strengthened by the povision of aninternal batten 19 which may, although it preferably do'esnot, serve as a stop to limit the rearward movement of drawer 20.

The forward portions of each panel 15, comprising the walls of portion of the trunk, are preferably reinforced and .protected in the specific manner disclosed. Externally, a vertically disposed metallic strip 22 overlies a portion of the'panel at the side of the trunk'and projects beyond the margin ofsaid panel to comprise a valence as shown, said valance being adapted to close the line of juncture between the two portions 5 and def the trunk when the trunk is shut.

Disposed internally of the side panel 15 and arranged for co-operation with thestrip 22 is a complementary strip 25 bent to the peculiar'cross section clearlyshown in Figure 2. An intermediate fold in strip produces a vertically extending drawer stop 26 adjacent the front of the side panel 15. It will be noted that the drawer stop 26 is spaced slightly rearwardly from the forwardmargin of the panel. At 27 the material of s'trip'25 is bent at right angles across the front margin of panel 15 to abut exterior strip 22 and thereby finish off the forward margin of the compartment. The inner and outer strips22 and 25 may conveniently be secured together by rivets, or equivalent securing means, shown at 28 and preferably clamping the inner and outer plates 5 securely against the intermediate panel 15.

Slidewa-ys for the trunk drawers 20 are preferably provided through the use of horizontally projecting metallic flanges, one of which is shown at 29., The precise means provided for drawer support is not material to this invention however.

The rear portions of the drawers 20 may be assembled in any "desired manner. It is desired, however, to call attention to the particularv means provided for connecting the side wall 32 of the drawer with the front wall 34 thereof. These two walls are preferably brought together in abutting contact with the front wall overlying he 1 forward end of the side wall The separation of these walls is made practically impossible by a reinforcing and finishing strip which not only extends vertically along the front corner of each drawer, but is also 3 carried horizontally and continuously across the bottom of each orawer.

In this and other respects, strip 35 differs from the composite and non-continuous strip shown in my prior patent, No. 1,312,714, issued to me on August 12, 1919.

The construction of the metallic reinforcing strip 35 is such as to make said strip substantially T-shaped in cross section, as is clearly shown in Figures 2 and 3. The leg portion 35 of strip '35 is disposed in face contact with the side 32 of the drawer. The

tact in a mitered joint.

"portion 36 of the trunk comprises one arm of the T. From the fold the material comprising strip 35 extends inwardly into face contact with the front wall 34 of the drawer. lts extreme innermargin 37 comprises the other arm of the T. It will be noted that such rivetsor screws 38, as are used to secure the finishing strip 35 to the drawer, are preferably disposed wholly in the portion 35 of said strip and are, therefore, invisible from the frontof thedrawer. Due to the fact that the portion 35 of-said strip overlaps the ends of the frontwall 34 of the drawer and the flange 37 of said strip overlaps the front face of the front wall 34, it will be obvious that the front wall 34 will be rigidly secured in position with reference to the side wall 32 of the drawer despite the absence of screws, or the like, extending through flange 37. 7 Of course securing screws might be used to connect flange 37 with the front panel 34 of the drawer but the construction here illustrated, such screws are made unnecessary, tends to promote the attractive appearance of a wardrobe trunkembodying this invention.

It has already been made clear that the strip 35 is preferably continuous throughout its extent about the side and lower-anargins of each drawer. It is largely by reason of this continuity that the desired strength and rigidity are obtained in the above construction. This continuity may be obtained by taking a strip of material bent to a T-shaped cross section as aforesaid and notching its marginal portion '37 as indicated at 33 in Figure 4. The includeo angle between the sides of the notch will. preferably be approximately 90 whereby the portion 35 of the strip may be bent to a right angle about the corner of the drawer to bring the sides of the notch into exact con- The material of which strip '35 is composed will preferably be sufliciently ductile to enable the portion 36-of said strip to be drawn to increased length during. the bending operation. f

Through-the use of the co-operating metal strips 35 and-25' upon the drawer and trunk compartment respectively, it is possible to. secure a remarkably. accurate drawer lit. The drawer stop portion 26 of strip '25 is inset from the marginalportion 270 f said strip for a distance just sufiicient to accom Inn This desirable result is accomplished without the possibility of a drawer becoming bound or stuck, and furthermore, I have found it possible to obtain the aforesaid accuracy more cheaply and with less manual labor through the use of the above described construction than is possible through any other means known to me.

The particular trunk herein shown may be provided with a drawer locking strip '39 that can be inserted in a fitting L0 and locked at 41 to the top of the trunk. The strip 39, in reality, comprises an elongated hasp or look 4-1 and extends across the faces of all the drawers 20 in securing relation thereto. trip 39, when unlocked, may be wholly removed from the face of drawer compartment 5, thereby leaving each of drawers 20 free for its independent with- (irawal. This locking device is not claimed to be new and it is described only for the purpose of exemplifying a particular type of trunk in which it is very desirable that each drawer be closed accurately to its desired position.

[is pointed out above, the construction herein disclosed results in the desired accuracy of drawer alignment and further results in giving the trunk and the drawers thereof a neat and attractive finish more desirable in appearance than other constructions with which I have been familiar.

I claim:

1. In a wardrobe trunk, the combination with a drawer compartment including a side panel, of finishing strips extending along a margin of said panel respectively, interiorly and exteriorly thereof, one of said strips being bent across the margin of said panel, of a vertically extending shoulder integral with the interior strip and spaced inwardly from the margin of said panel, and a drawer provided with a metal finishing strip upon its margin having a. complementary shoulder adapted to fit between said first mentioned shoulder and the vfinished margin of said panel.

2. In a wardrobe trunk, the combination with a drawer compartment including a side panel, of a metallic finishing strip disposed interiorly along the margin of said panel and bent outwardly across said margin, an intermediate portion ofsaid strip being folded to provide a positive stop spaced from the finished margin of the panel, together with a, d awer having upon its margin a metallic finishing strip with an intermediate portion folded to provide a positive stop adapted to abut the stop upon said compartment.

3. In a wardrobe trunk, the combination with a drawer compartment including a side panel, of a metallic finishing strip disposed interiorly along the margin of said panel and bent outwardly across said margin, an

intermediate portion of said strip being folded to provide a positive stop spaced from the finished margin of the panel, to gether with a drawer having upon its margin a metallic finishing strip with an intermediate portion folded to provide a positive stop adapted to abut the stop upon said compartment, and to be received between said last mentioned stop and the finished margin of said panel.

4r. In a wardrobe trunk in whiehit is desirable to maintain drawers in accurate and mutually flush alignment, the combination with a drawer receiving compartment including a side panel; of a finishing strip disposed interiorly of said panel and extending vertically along the margin thereof, said strip being folded upon itself in an interme diate portion to provide a shoulder spaced inwardly from the margin of said panel; a. set of drawers each independently slidable into said compartment and provided with front faces adapted for mutual alignment in a common plane; and finishing strips for said drawers including portions in face contact with the front faces of said drawers extending laterally therefrom, folded back upon themselves substantially parallel to the plane of said faces, and bent rearwardly and substantially at right angles; said laterally projecting portions being adapted to co-operate with said shoulders whereby to limit the inward movement of said drawers to predetermined positions.

5. In a wardrobe trunk, the combination with a drawer compartment having a side panel; of a finishing strip disposed interiorly of said panel adjacent a margin thereof and bent outwardly across said margin; a shoulder spaced inwardly from the margin of said panel and formed integrally from the material of said strip; a valance strip exterior to said panel; means for securing said valance strip and finishing strip together through the material of said panel; a drawer support carried by said panel; a drawer slidable with respect to said support; and a finishing strip for the margin of said drawer of T-shaped cross section, the portion of said strip comprising one arm of the T being in face contact with the front of said drawer and the portion comprising the opposite arm of said T being adapted to extend laterally for contact with said shoulder; together with means for securing the portion of said strip comprising the leg of the T to the side of the drawer.

6. The combination with a drawer compartment providing a stop adjacent its forward margin; of a drawer including side panels, a bottom, and a front panel abutting the side panels and bottom adjacent its margins; and a binding strip including a continuous flange extending about said side panels and bottom, a shoulder complementary tosaid stop and formed integrally and substantially co-extensively With said flange, and aplurality of flanges integral With said shoulder and overlying said front gpanel with their ends mutually contiguous :andin miter joint relation.

7 A Wardrobe trunk compartment having metallic finishing strips along its side anargins, each strip having an interiorly projecting longitudinally extending rib, in combinationwith a setof drawers for said compartment, each havingco-acting ribs near the junction-0f its side and ifront walls,

adapted to engage the finishing strip ribs When the drawerlis =in closed posit ion.

8. ln 'a wardrohe'trn'nk compartment provided with a set ofdrawers the combination With the idrawers 'and the side Walls of the compartment; of mutually engaging finishing strips on the drawers and side walls respectivelyeada pted to limit the inward novement of the dravaiers and align their front faces in a common plane. V g

GEORGE HENRY KVHEARY. 

